"What? You have information on the Phoenix?" Andre was greatly surprised by the news. How did Alan know everything? Originally, Andre was already very shocked by Alan's grasp of information about Golden Knight and the breeding parks, but he didn't expect this to be just the tip of the iceberg; the younger man seemed to be hiding many trump cards.
"I only got it by chance while collecting club intelligence; the civilian groups affiliated with East Germany contact the Silver Spears every so often, and the direct manager is the Phoenix." Alan wouldn't tell Andre that he had actually been able to track the Phoenix's movements for a long time.
"That would be even better; with these bargaining chips, I am confident I can turn the Schmidt family's stance around," Andre replied with confidence.
"That's good, but this is just the first step." Alan nodded in satisfaction, then took out a small box and handed it to Andre. "Also, there are the three directors who have completely sided with Peter. In this box are three trackers; find an opportunity to see if you can hide them on those three people. Of course, don't force it; doing so is just to ensure they can't run away."
Andre nodded in understanding, then took the small box. Immediately after, Alan took out a stack of parchment and handed it to Andre. "Besides weakening their power in the Ministry of Magic, we also need to control the power of public opinion. I know a reporter from The Daily Prophet, and I have already arranged for her to help write several press releases. After you rescue those civilian wizards from prison, release these reports in batches. Some are to build momentum for you, and some are to expose Peter's manipulation of civilian groups to maliciously divide Germany."
"Of course, there are also those exposing Peter's relationship with the Silver Spears, but you can decide whether to disseminate that last one based on the situation. Theoretically, the charge of attempting to maliciously divide the country alone can bring Peter down. His relationship with the club—it's best not to let the public know unless absolutely necessary. After all, this concerns the international image of the German wizarding world."
"I have already made notes on these press releases. You can contact your familiar media friends in the local area in advance. After completing each item above, it must appear in the newspaper the next day. We need to crush Peter and his gang in one go, and the power of public opinion among the populace is a very crucial part of it."
Andre took the stack of parchment from Alan's hand with some surprise; he didn't even know the other party had prepared such things. And when he roughly looked it over, his eyes immediately widened; the content written on the parchment was simply too exaggerated.
For example, the top one, the title was "Savior of the German Wizarding World Emerges, Director Andre Fights Heroically, Rescuing Thousands of Innocent Wizards!" And there was even a note at the back, stating that it should be submitted to the newspaper on the night of rescuing those prisoners, and it must be made known to the whole world the next day.
Besides this, there were also "Shocking! Hypocritical Minister for Magic Suspected of Deliberately Manipulating Public Opinion, Attempting to Destroy the German Wizarding World!" and "Magic Item Shop Merchant Clement's Own Confession: Minister Peter is Actually…" The note said it should be submitted on the night after the prisoners were rescued, meaning it would appear in the newspaper on the third day.
Furthermore, there were dozens of reporting materials behind, either promoting Andre or exposing Peter's conspiracy, as well as various slanders against the Silver Spear Club, and all of them were marked with release times, with one to two articles almost every day, adding up to about half a month of continuous reporting.
"This…" Andre looked at the materials in his hand, his mouth agape in surprise. These things that hadn't even happened yet had already been written into news by Alan! Moreover, the content within was very exaggerated in its wording; generally, when promoting Andre, it would exaggerate by ten to fifty percent, and when slandering Peter and the Silver Spears, it also exaggerated the charges. If understood according to the content above, Peter was simply the Dark Lord of Germany, as if he couldn't wait to destroy the wizarding world.
"What? Is the content above not true?" Alan chuckled and retorted.
"If things really develop as expected, then what's written above is indeed true." Andre originally wanted to argue about something, but after looking left and right, he really couldn't find too many faults. "But isn't the content written here a bit too exaggerated? Look at the first one, saving thousands of innocent wizards. There aren't that many people in the prison right now, and not all of them are wizards either." Andre struggled for a long time before finally uttering this sentence.
"You don't need to worry about that." Alan calmly shook his head. "After all, it's the media. It's normal for them to use imprecise wording and slightly exaggerate to grab attention. Moreover, those reporters aren't people from the Ministry of Magic; how could they know such accurate information? Information that's too accurate wouldn't seem like media at all."
*You call this a slight exaggeration?* Andre pouted speechlessly, and besides, we were the ones who sent it out in the first place. However, Andre looked more closely and found that all the sources of information written there were "According to well-informed sources," perhaps it wouldn't make people associate it with himself… What a ghost, at that time, the newspaper would either be scolding Peter or promoting him; anyone with a bit of sense would realize it was related to him, right?
Perhaps sensing Andre's concerns, Alan laughed, "You must understand one principle: the German Ministry of Magic having such a scoundrel as Peter will have an adverse effect on the German wizarding world, and may even cause the Ministry of Magic's prestige among civilian wizards to drop to rock bottom. At this time, only by introducing another hero can the situation be stabilized. You might think this promotion is a bit excessive, but for the entire wizarding world, it's quite the opposite. Perhaps the Wizengamot will even actively promote you to quickly reverse the decline."
"Are you sure?" Andre, to put it plainly, was a brave warrior and didn't quite understand these convoluted things, so he still had some incomprehension about Alan's actions.
"Don't worry, doing this is most beneficial for you, and with your overly straightforward image, the outside world may not directly link this propaganda to you. They might even think it's a decision by other high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Magic." Alan tried his best to put things in a positive light to dispel Andre's concerns.
"Alright, then I'll trust you one more time. Just don't make me look like someone who loves vanity in other people's eyes." Andre shook his head helplessly, but out of trust in Alan, he still put away the materials.
"That's right. You must remember, once the Blind Snake Operation is launched, it means you have completely torn off the facade with Peter. If you don't thoroughly uproot him, you will only leave behind trouble." Alan was well aware of the extent to which the Silver Spears had corrupted the German wizarding world. If they didn't seize the initiative in public opinion, it was very likely that Peter would exploit it to absolve himself.
After strengthening Andre's confidence again, Alan looked at Moody, "Once the warehouse stronghold is broken by the Ministry of Magic, you will quickly go into hiding. I will provide cover for you then. We still have several tough battles to fight later, and Director Amelia is already gathering people."
"After completing the Blind Snake Operation, will it be time to confront those Silver Spears head-on?" Moody immediately smelled the blood in Alan's words and couldn't help but grin.
"It should be said that this is also part of the Blind Snake Operation. When facing Peter and his gang, you must be careful of them getting desperate. He has been operating in the Ministry of Magic for so many years; it's impossible that he only turned those three directors. If not handled well, it's very likely to lead to a mass mutiny. We must be mentally prepared for a tough battle. So this operation must be short, smooth, and fast. From rescuing the wizards, collecting evidence, judging, to arresting—this series of actions must be done in one go. We absolutely cannot let them run away!" Alan's eyes became incredibly sharp as he said this.
"Mm, don't worry!"
"I've wanted to meet them for a long time!"
Moody and Andre exchanged a smile, and strong fighting intent erupted in their eyes. Both were very pure warriors who would not flinch in the face of battle.
After the meeting, Alan returned to his residence, but he didn't idle, because he still had an important task to do in the next few days. That was to attend the Longspear Meeting of the Silver Spears, a meeting he had actively requested as the Thunderbird.
Now there were only two days left until the assembly time. Then, he would have his first direct contact with Golden Knight. For this most mysterious Silver Spear in the club, he still couldn't figure out the other party's true strength. At the same time, Alan was also considering whether he could use this opportunity to put a tracker on him, because the mask that could communicate with the Thunderbird had always been on Peter. At that time, Golden Knight, who would attend the meeting, would most likely not be Peter from the Ministry of Magic. He wanted to see if he could also get a grasp of this Golden Knight's whereabouts. If he could track this Golden Knight's movements, could he then find the Rune Serpent through him?
For this, Alan made many preparations in his alchemy laboratory. To facilitate disguise, he wanted to make the tracker as lightweight as possible, for example, by mixing it into food or drinks for the other party to consume, or by making it into soft needles or similar objects to hide directly on the other party.
Two days later, just before heading to the Silver Spears headquarters, Alan had already made seven or eight different types of trackers. He planned to act according to the situation and thoroughly probe this Golden Knight's true nature. Having made all preparations, Alan changed into the Thunderbird's attire, even adjusting his face and voice to be identical to the Thunderbird's again. He didn't want to expose his identity over such details.
Then, Alan followed the same procedure he had used to enter the headquarters last time, going through it once more.